


To Keep a Memory

by Tea_For_One_Please



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, Gay Will Byers, M/M, One Shot, Self-Discovery, Sexuality, Star Wars References, Summer, Will has a crush on Luke Skywalker it's canon, Young Love, it's cute though, not sure what to tag?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 08:30:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17260955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tea_For_One_Please/pseuds/Tea_For_One_Please
Summary: A short account of Will's journey to self-discovery, and the boy who taught him to love.





	To Keep a Memory

Will hadn’t always known. Not really. He’d always known there was something about him that was different from the other three boys, though. Back in second grade, when Mike had developed one of those little-kid crushes on Alicia Moore, he had followed her around for more than three weeks, blushing furiously and pulling her ponytail sporadically. It ended abruptly when he pulled too hard and made her cry, at which point he had been told off by their teacher and decided that these odd feeling weren’t worth the bother. In that time though, most unusually, Will had seen almost nothing of him. He had hung out with Lucas primarily (as Dustin had not yet moved to Hawkins), but he also hung out with Ben, the loud boy with brown hair, like his, and freckles who sat behind him in class. Looking back many years later, he realised that he, like Mike, had formed a crush on his new companion for that month.

That same year saw the release of _Star Wars_ , and Mike, Will and Lucas were hooked. All their games became lightsaber duels and space battles – and arguments over who got to destroy the Death Star. That Halloween, Joyce made a passable Luke Skywalker costume for Will, while Lucas went as Han Solo. Mike’s parents bought him a brand-new Darth Vader costume, to Will’s envy. It did not escape his notice that Mike and Lucas gushed about Leia, he tended to watch Luke. More than once, Joyce had to rearrange his hair where he’d tried to replicate the way which Mark Hamill’s bangs swept across his forehead.

About two years later, Will’s dad left. That summer, as an act of defiance, Joyce took Will and Jonathan away for two whole weeks of the vacation, something they’d never done before. They didn’t go too far, to a quiet lake resort about a three-hour drive from Hawkins. Will loved it. He didn’t go out for the water-sports, which Jonathan uncharacteristically did. Instead, he got up early on their first morning, sat down on a jetty, dangled his bare feet in the water and sketched. He spent most of his time drawing; on the fourth day he found some woods on the other side of the lake. He found a bench and took out his sketchbook. He had been there about twenty minutes when a boy appeared and sat down next to him.

“Hello,” he said, turning to look at Will and smiling warmly at him. Will jumped, sucked away from the little world inside his head.

“Oh, hi,” he said nervously, laying his sketchbook down and looking at him. He was a bit bigger than Will, about an inch taller and stockier, with a messy thatch of straw-blond hair. Behind his glasses, his eyes were grey and crinkled with his smile.

“I’m Luke,” said the boy. “What’s your name?”

“I’m William,” he said. “But everyone calls me Will.”

“Nice to meet you,” Luke smiled. “Are you here with your parents?”

“My mom and brother,” Will said. “My parents just split up.”

“Oh, sorry,” he said, frowning.

“It’s alright,” Will shrugged. “He wasn’t very nice. What about you?”

“Oh, my parents work here, so I basically live here in the summer. Can I see your drawing?” Will hesitated.

“Um, sure. It’s not great.” He passed Luke the sketchbook, his heart thudding in his chest.

“Are you kidding me?” Luke said after a moment. “Will, this is awesome.” Will felt his cheeks heating up.

“It’s not really,” Will muttered, trying not to smile. Luke shoved him gently and grinned.

“Shut up, it’s incredible.” He gazed at the picture a moment longer and gave it back to Will. “Want to go back to my cabin? My mom’s made lemonade.”

“Sure, that sounds great.” Will tucked his drawing under his arm and fell in step with his new friend.

 

After that, the two became inseparable. A lot of their time was spent, sitting quietly, looking out over the lake. They talked a lot, about their schools, their friends, a shared love of _Star Wars_ , and a shared dislike of team sports. Will found himself growing more and more attached to Luke, and started feeling something he couldn’t quite place.

 

Of course, it couldn’t last. “I’m going home tomorrow,” said Will glumly, at the end of the day.

“Oh.” Luke had been unusually quiet.

“You’re staying here, aren’t you?”

“All summer,” Luke said. “I don’t suppose you could?”

Will shook his head. “I’m sorry.” His eyebrows jumped in surprise as Luke slipped his hand into Will’s, but he smiled at him to show it was okay. “I’ll miss you.”

“Me too.”

“Can I have your address? So I can write to you?” Will asked. Luke frowned.

“I can’t actually remember the whole thing, I spend so little time there,” he admitted. “I’ll give it to you before you go in the morning.” Will nodded and smiled.

“Will!” came a shout from his cabin.

“That’s my mom,” said Will. “I have to go.” He took a deep breath and threw his arms around Luke. “See you.” Later he would look back at this moment and curse himself for not thinking to give Luke his own address.

“Time to go, honey,” his mom said when he got back. Will blinked, confused.

“I thought we were leaving tomorrow?”

“I’ve changed my mind, I’d rather get the driving done at night when it’s cool.”

Will started to panic. “But my friend, I…”

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but we need to leave soon if we’re to miss the rush hour.” She was checking her purse and missed the stricken look on his face. “Go pack your suitcase.”

“I’ve done it, mom,” said Jonathan, coming into the room and holding it up.

“Oh, thank you so much, Jonathan.” Joyce looked gratefully at her eldest son and closed her purse. “I’m going to the bathroom. Can you go and get in the car, Will?” Will nodded, but the moment she was gone he grabbed a pen from her purse and a sheet of paper. Overwhelmed and struggling to think, he scrawled _Luke, I’m sorry. Love from Will_ on it and tucked it under one of the sofa cushions. Luke had told him that one of his jobs was to check for lost property when someone left a cabin. It did not occur to Will until too late that he could have written his own address.

Will never heard from Luke again. But it was from that summer that Will knew he was different. The thought of Luke kept him going, even when he started to develop feelings for Mike. The thought that he wasn’t the only one like him, that there was hope. The thought that he might not have to spend his life alone. Years later, he would lean against Mike’s shoulder as he watched Luke Skywalker throw away his lightsaber and face down the Emperor for the hundredth time. And he would smile, and he would think of the Luke he once knew, and how he had been his new hope when he had needed it most.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you've enjoyed! Please feel free to leave a comment or hit me up on Tumblr (@teaforoneplease), I'm nice!


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